Barnes & Noble was my playpen. I could get lost there for hours. My section of choice was history - with a special focus on the military and the Mafia. I was an odd child. I read the Mafia Dynasty over and over. Then Mob Star. Then Made Men. Then Murder Machine. Then Boss of… Continue reading Magazines
Regrets
There is no greater ruiner of life than regrets. Regrets will eat away at you over and over again. There is no going back. No fixing or changing. You lived like it was a dress rehearsal, but it was the final show. Regrets often take the place of omission rather than co-mission. Co-mission gives you… Continue reading Regrets
Static
I wrote a script that's partially finished and submitted it to the Final Draft Big Break contest. I really didn't want anyone to read. I'm still not sure if I do. But this morning, I received Mark Manson's newsletter "Your Next Breakthrough". In it he notes a story how Stephen King wrote 3 pages of… Continue reading Static
Routine of Dreams
The Perfect Day does exist ...
Nothing to Lose
Last post, I defended Ron Wayne. I argued that selling 10% of Apple for $800 may have been the right call, that he was pricing the base rate while the rest of us price the exception, and that judging decisions by outcomes is the most natural mistake in the world and still a mistake. I… Continue reading Nothing to Lose
Did It All Work Out?
On survivorship bias, hindsight, and why the counterfactual is the only honest way to judge a decision In April 1976, twelve days after co-founding Apple, Ron Wayne sold his 10% stake back to Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak for $800. You know where this is going. Apple is now worth trillions of dollars, the internet… Continue reading Did It All Work Out?
The Retired Economy
Why a good jobs report makes the market fall — and what that says about a country that has stopped working for a living. A strong jobs report came out, and the market fell. If you’ve spent any time near financial news, you barely register the strangeness of this anymore. More Americans found work than… Continue reading The Retired Economy
We’re Going to Need a Bigger Succession Plan
When you go to buy a business, the conversation is always about the owner. He’s of age. He’s tired. He wants to take some chips off the table and go fishing. That’s the headline risk, and every buyer underwrites it. But the owner isn’t the only one with a foot out the door. Your head… Continue reading We’re Going to Need a Bigger Succession Plan
Paradise Found
Irving Link was in his eighties, sitting in what had long since become his chair, poolside at the Beverly Hills Hotel on a weekday afternoon. He was playing gin rummy in a perfectly fitted tropical-weight suit. He had been playing gin rummy in more or less this spot since 1950. The staff knew his name.… Continue reading Paradise Found
One Envelope
“Then I’m going down the steps, and my wife calls up, ‘Where are you going?’ I say, ‘Well, I’m going to go buy an envelope.’ And she says, ‘You’re not a poor man. Why don’t you buy a thousand envelopes? They’ll deliver them, and you can put them in a closet.’ And I say, ‘Hush.’… Continue reading One Envelope
